Qualified Immunity & Police Licensing: ?Understanding SB 2

By Robert Wexler, Rocky Lucia, Mike Rains and Timothy Talbot of the law firm Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC. 

As many of you are aware, the California Legislature has been debating Senate Bill 2, known as the Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021. Although the bill has not been signed by Governor Newsom, we expect he will do so soon. For a variety of reasons, this law enforcement legislation has been one of the most closely followed and hotly debated of any in recent history. 

Many law enforcement associations, including the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), lobbied successfully to eliminate or minimize the effects of some of the most draconian measures in the original incarnations of the bill. RLS Principal Tim Talbot worked closely with PORAC’s legislative team on this matter.

To assist our subscribers in understanding the effects of the bill, RLS Lawyers has shared the most most significant provisions.  Many thanks to RLS for putting this together and sharing it with Legal Updates! 

1. Qualified Immunity

SB 2 does nothing to alter qualified immunity in federal civil rights litigation.  

In state litigation matters, SB 2 makes largely superficial technical changes within Civil Code section 52.1. However, it leaves untouched Civil Code section 825, et seq., which is the statutory basis upon which peace officers frequently secure indemnity and defense by their employers against lawsuits for matters within the scope of their employment. 

2. Peace Officer Certification 

Existing laws prescribe certain minimum standards for a person to be appointed as a peace officer, including moral character and physical and mental condition, and certain disqualifying factors for a person to be employed as a peace officer, including a felony conviction. SB 2 slightly expands upon the nature of “convictions” that render a candidate ineligible for certification as a peace officer.

SB 2 requires that the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (“POST”) establish a certification program to serve as a peace officer within the state. POST also has the duty and the power to investigate and determine the fitness of any person to serve as a peace ....

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